Houston Black Lives Matter Plans 'Destroy The Confederacy' Event Saturday

HOUSTON, TX — While the city of Houston ponders what to do about Confederate statues and moments, one group has decided to take it into their own hands. Literally. Houston Black Lives Matter leader Ashton P. Woods launched a Facebook event "Destroy the Confederacy" that picked up traction on other social media outlets.

The event calls for people to meet at Sam Houston Park on Saturday at 3 p.m. The group hopes to demand that the City of Houston "erase the Confederacy" because "it is a stain in the fabric of our history that needs to be removed."

"Do not bring children," the event post advises.

Woods is a co-founder and leader of the Houston Black Lives Matter movement and activist among various other causes.

One group, SURJ HTX, is hosting a training and opportunity for de-escalation and reflection before saturday's action. They're also have a bottled water drive to have for the participants.

"In the wake of this recent wave of white supremacist violence, it's extremely important that white folks show up to denounce racism, especially overt white supremacy," it says on the SURJ HTX event post.

The primary focus, right now, is the removal of the "Spirit of Confederacy" monument in Sam Houston Park, with perhaps more in the future. The Houston Young Communist League (YCL) started an online petition at change.org, and they reached more than 1,600 online signatures by Wednesday afternoon.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner at Tuesday's City Council meeting directed city staff to further investigate Confederate statues without making any knee-jerk decisions.

Top image: The Spirit of Confederacy statue located in Houston's Hermann Park.
Photo via City of Houston